Saturday, August 26, 2006

It has been brought to my attention that I kinda skipped over the end of our summer. (love ya G - you know I'm just teasing!!) We really had a good summer this year - just fast and furious as usual. We went to library time most weeks, with our little play group from church. Usually that involved story time at the library, and then us all going afterwards to somewhere to eat (um, McDonald*s cheap happy meals on Thursdays?) and the kids to play as well. Plus, it was a good chance for the kids to get books to read - they both seem to really enjoy reading, which is a joy for their dad and I.

Then, we met Grammy in Albaturkey just before Az4's bday. She and Az3 then left to go to D-town to see Gran and Codfish for the weekend. They had a blast! They played golf, putt-putt, and Az3 learned how to play the clarinet...or so I hear. I know everybody really enjoyed that!! Then Grammy and Az3 headed back to her house for a few days as well. He had fun there too - got to ride horses with his friend Lane, and got a Power Ranger too. (Those were his highlights - I know Grammy enjoyed having him. It brought back special memories for me too - I used to go visit my Grandma for a week or so by myself during the summer. I so enjoyed that - especially having her all to myself. Her house in Dumas was so special to me - not just because that was where my mom grew up, but because it was so different. No dishwasher, a long lonely backyard, all the cool "old" toys to play with, and even relatives to visit there. Some of my favorite memories were going to see Sissy and Sharon (Grandma's sister and her daughter) at their house there, where we would talk collectible dolls (Sharon had a million or so), and Sissy always had ice cream for me!!! Very precious memories to me, as Grandma moved down here to our town when I was in 5th grade, so I'm glad my son can enjoy that kind as well.

By the way, the baby is crawling!! She's been trying this for about a week, on her belly, think army men crawling. It's pretty hysterical - almost like a snake with legs. But just yesterday and today, she's really gotten it down, to the point of crawling around the living room, and even trying to negotiate the step up into the rest of the house. I ran an errand this morning, and when I came back, the older 2 were out in the backyard. Daddy and Az5 were in his room...or so he thought. He had stepped into the bathroom for a sec while he got ready for work, and when I hollered down the hall, we discovered Az5 had crawled from our room into brother's room - waaaaaaaaayyyy more interesting and with toys!! Plus, she waved bye-bye (floppy wrist/arm movement) to GrandMommy last Sunday, and now does it as prompted. The neatest thing for me though is that today she signed the word for "milk"!!! I was so pleased...we've been calling her bottles milk now for several months, but I've only introduced the sign for it in the last few weeks. I've taught my kids all signs at this age - babies really do have the ability to process language at this age, but their physical motor skills with their mouth, tongue, etc, just aren't ready yet. That's why sign language works so well with babies - they do have more control over their hands and arms, and it really helps them communicate, cutting down on their frustration. So cool!!!

Have a great Sunday! We're supposed to be getting some rain here - and got some nice rain today. Really cooled things off here too. OH, and for a garden update....we've had 7-8 yellow squash that we've enjoyed so far. (Az5 loves it as baby food!) We also have 3 baby ears of corn that have started, along with 4-5 baby seedless watermelon that range in size from quarters to dimes...plus my first blooms on the bell pepper vines, along with our first tomato blooms. (They are doing really well - about 3 feet tall - I'm hopeful that we will have little green 'maters soon!) We have had our first zucchini too, and I'm probably going to dig up our first carrot this week to see if they're ready yet. Got several little baby pumpkins too, and our first cucumber will be ready this week. The baaaaaaaddd thing is, we have serious insect infestations - multiple varieties, from mites to aphids - plus maybe grasshoppers. (You name it, I probably got it!) So I went to a nursery today, and got some serious insecticide to start waging battle on Monday. Hopefully by about 3 weeks from now, everything will be back to normal.....

Monday, August 14, 2006

He was ready to go! He had a swimming party the night before, and I was at work. So, this morning was my first chance to talk to him about it. He woke up okay, and had breakfast at home. Then we had our morning devotional and prayer, he brushed his teeth and got dressed. He wore his new Lightning McQueen shirt, to go with his Lightning McQueen backpack and lunch. I had all his school supplies ready for him in his backpack - I hope they're all the right ones, as the school was picky down to the brand of crayons! We had to go 2 different stores to find them all, so I don't want to do that again.... Oh, and he even had his Lightning McQueen chapstick in his pocket today. (Can you guess the theme for his bday in a month or so?)

We all walked him to school, and it worked out pretty well for our first run. I think next time, we may leave a few minutes earlier, just to give little legs time to walk at their pace, not Mommy or Daddy's. I still can't get pictures to post, but when I do, I'll put the one up that I took of him in the same spot as kindergarten - he's definitely grown a bit! When we reached the door, he was ready to go in, but did decide to stop and tell everyone bye when I asked. We walked in together, and he goes straight to the cafeteria in the morning. (Did I tell you about his teacher? Again, a blessing from the Lord - someone I have known since I was in first grade, a wonderful Christian woman who was my next door neighbor, and hosted our wedding shower here!!) Anyways, he found Mrs. D at his table with about 7-8 from his class, and sat down. I gave him a hug and kiss, and walked out. (Yes I teared up!) The interesting thing is that his school provides breakfast for all the students, so he has to be there by 7:45 in the morning, late at 7:50, even though I don't think class starts until 8:10 or so. We think it may be due to the collective socio-economic status of the school being towards the low end. Nevertheless, we have decided to give him breakfast here at home each morning - I'd rather him have too much and a full tummy, rather than count on the school and us get there late or something.

So we'll see how his day goes. Az4 has already asked about him once, and the baby seemed to make a questioning noise (uuhhhh? Think Tim the tool man Taylor!) when we walked by his room. He gets out at 3, so we're going to walk down to pick him up again. I hope the weather is nice enough for us to walk to school most of the time - we really live close enough that by the time we warm the car up on cold days, we could have walked there. So we'll see - I know some of my friends on the East Coast walk no matter the weather, which is an interesting thought. It's kinda nice to be back on a "real" routine, although the break for summer was good for us too. Daddy is back in the swing of things too - he's already caught the bus to go to school to talk to advisors this morning, and will take it straight to work later too. I think it's kind-of a test run for him, as he wants to make sure he can take his last class and get to work on time. However it will make for long days - we won't see him til he gets home around 10 tonight, and I think on actual class days, he'll be leaving the house around 6:30am.

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

We spent the entire day at MGM Studios. I mean, the whole day here - it was probably one of our longest, as we never left for a nap, but did head back to the hotel around 5 or so.

We started out at the PlayHouse Disney show. If you've got preschoolers who have ever even seen one of these cartoons, this is a must do!! So cute, and much fun! There was Bear in the Big Blu@ House, Stanley, Winnie the Pooh, and Jojo's Circus. The kids loved it, and even the baby paid attention to most of the show. The best part for them was the bubbles from the ceiling! Then, while we were walking around, a policeman (stage character there) started following Az3 - sneaking behind a tree, reading a newspaper with eye holes, everything a snarky guy would from a '30's movie. Az3 wasn't sure what to do, until Daddy and I encouraged him to basically play along - I think he thought the man was a real officer! Anyways, he handed the kids each a badge and "deputized" them for the day at the park. Pretty cute!

We HAD to have lunch at Pizza Planet - really a hit with the kids! (It's from the first Toy Story movie) I think they were kinda in awe that it "really" existed. It was really loud, but it was so worth it for the kids. (You know how it is...) Then, we found Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and the green soldier from Toy Story. Az4 still wouldn't go near Buzz or the green soldier, but Az3 was in HOG heaven!!! It was pretty neat for Daddy and I - that movie came out right around when Az3 was born, and that was his second bday theme. Nice to see he still enjoyed all of that - just like a little boy should! Plus, we found the Power Rangers after that, as well as the Little Einsteins. (Little Einsteins are the basic continuation of Baby Einstein for older kids - it's really cute and still emphasizes classical music and art. My kids could watch it all day!) Plus we found Jojo and Goliath, Sorcerer Mickey (Az4 calls him Mickey Philharmagic - one of the shows at the Magic Kingdom), as well as Sully and Mike from Monsters, and a couple of "cars"....Lightning and Mater themselves!

While Az5 took a nap (and I sat down to rest), Daddy and the kids went and played in the Honey I shrunk the kids playground. They had a blast! I think the best part was when Daddy turned on the video camera and let the kids lead him where they wanted to go. They of course found the leaky water hose (came out soaked!) as well as the breathing dog nose - which was just hilarious! They climbed all the ant mounds and tunnels, and were tickled at the giant lego piece. We also had to visit the Coke stand over by the character trailers - it had a giant coke bottle whose lid would vent off every couple of minutes and spray you. It felt great, as the day was really humid and sticky.

We finished the day by seeing the Little Mermaid show (nice, especially b/c of the a/c!!) and the "cars and stars" parade. It's neat, as it is a parade of all the characters in the park in specially designed cars. For exammple, Aladdin and Jasmine rode in one looking like the genie. We all had a fun day, but were pretty pooped by the time we left.

Just really busy, as I'm sure you can imagine. Work is going okay for me - I really picked up/remembered things quickly. Everyone seems to be adjusting okay. The kids are staying on their schedule and at home, which helps them, and Daddy is doing okay too. I've really been trying to make things easy on him - having supper ready to dish out, letting him know what to do when, etc, so he doesn't have to reinvent the wheel when he's home with them. I'm just tired - which isn't surprising, as I worked 5 days straight my first week! Ack! I think I'll catch up this week though - I only work 2 days.

Az4 said the cutest thing the other day. I was tucking her into bed, and she was asking if Daddy would come check on her when he got home. After I assured her he would, she replied,"He's the best daddy I never seen in the whole world!" I couldn't help but smile, and told her what a nice compliment that was, and how Daddy would love to hear it himself from her. She stopped, smiled, and then sat up and looked at me, and said,"Mama, you the best Mama in the whole world I never seen!" and threw her arms around my shoulders. Yep, I had to keep myself from crying. And on my second day of work too - just what I needed!!

We are going today to register Az3 for school. Apparently we didn't do it right or thoroughly the first time - I dunno. Anyways, after Az5 wakes from her morning nap, we're all going to walk down to school and take care of this. (so I'll know how long it takes to walk there for future reference....) I think on Friday he and I are going school shopping - he wants a Lightning M*Queen shirt to wear the first day, and to get his supplies. We're going to make a date of it. We have story time on Thursday, and then to GrandMommy's to swim most of the day. I can't believe he's going into first grade in less than a week! Where'd my baby boy go??

Tuesday, August 01, 2006

No, I haven't forgotten yet!! We started the day with family pictures - the whole group! Little Miss Az4 was a toot, which means we got none of just the 5 of us. Oh well - at least she cooperated enough for everyone else. We got some really good ones, so I think everyone was pleased.

Then it was off to Epcot - we had a reservation at the Akershus castle in Norway. Waaayyy too much fun for everyone! For the kids, there was normal food (pizza, etc), but for mom and dad there was Norwegian delicasies. I can still smell the seafood on the buffet, and my mouth is watering just thinking of the smoked salmon. Plus it was all the storybook princesses as guests - Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, Jasmine, and Belle. Yes, we'd just seen them the day before, but it was fun to be in a new place. Plus, I'm telling you these character meals are the way to go!! The kids always always ate a great meal, it was a/c!!!, and that was our one meal in the park - we had sandwiches and other snacks otherwise. Totally worth every penny!!

Unfortunately, our schedule for the day was kinda goofed up by the pictures. Instead of heading back for naps after lunch like we should have, we tried to stick it out, and ended up not doing much. In fact, I think the only ride we did was the Imagination Station. Fun, but not as much as I remember it being as a kid. Too bad...Anyways, I'm not sure Epcot was a big hit for my kids anyways - I think they'll enjoy it more when they're older. I was pleased to see that the Flower Festival that Daddy and I enjoyed soooooooooooooooo much on our honeymoon was going on while we were there this time! It was really neat. Oh, and we did do the big Spaceship Earth ride - Az3 really liked that one, especially when it turned around and went backwards. He and Az4 rode together in a car ahead of mom and dad, so they were big stuff to ride by themselves. :)